The Greek generals Eudemus and Peithon ruled in the Indus Valley
until around 317 BCE, when
Chandragupta MauryaChandragupta Maurya (with the help of
Chanakya, who was now his advisor) orchestrated a rebellion to drive
out the Greek governors, and subsequently brought the Indus Valley
under the control of his new seat of power in Magadha.

Chandragupta Maurya's rise to power is shrouded in mystery and
controversy. On one hand, a number of ancient Indian accounts, such as
the drama
Mudrarakshasa (Signet ring of Rakshasa – Rakshasa was the
prime minister of Magadha) by
Vishakhadatta , describe his royal
ancestry and even link him with the Nanda family. A kshatriya clan
known as the
MauryaMaurya 's are referred to in the earliest Buddhist texts
,
Mahaparinibbana Sutta . However, any conclusions are hard to make
without further historical evidence. Chandragupta first emerges in
Greek accounts as "Sandrokottos". As a young man he is said to have
met Alexander. He is also said to have met the Nanda king, angered
him, and made a narrow escape. Chanakya's original intentions were to
train a guerilla army under Chandragupta's command.

ChanakyaChanakya encouraged
Chandragupta MauryaChandragupta Maurya and his army to take over the
throne of Magadha. Using his intelligence network, Chandragupta
gathered many young men from across
MagadhaMagadha and other provinces, men
upset over the corrupt and oppressive rule of king
Dhana Nanda , plus
the resources necessary for his army to fight a long series of
battles. These men included the former general of Taxila, accomplished
students of Chanakya, the representative of King Parvataka, his son
Malayaketu , and the rulers of small states. The Macedonians
(described as
YonaYona or
YavanaYavana in Indian sources) may then have
participated, together with other groups, in the armed uprising of
Chandragupta MauryaChandragupta Maurya against the
Nanda dynastyNanda dynasty . The
Mudrarakshasa of
Visakhadutta as well as the Jaina work
Parisishtaparvan talk of
Chandragupta's alliance with the Himalayan king Parvataka, often
identified with
PorusPorus , although this identification is not accepted
by all historians. This Himalayan alliance gave Chandragupta a
composite and powerful army made up of Yavanas (Greeks),
KambojasKambojas ,
Shakas (Scythians),
Kiratas (Himalayans), Parasikas (Persians) and
Bahlikas (Bactrians) who took
PataliputraPataliputra (also called Kusumapura,
"The City of Flowers"): "Kusumapura was besieged from every
direction by the forces of Parvata and Chandragupta: Shakas, Yavanas,
Kiratas, Kambojas, Parasikas,
Bahlikas and others, assembled on the
advice of Chanakya" in
Mudrarakshasa 2

Preparing to invade Pataliputra,
MauryaMaurya came up with a strategy. A
battle was announced and the Magadhan army was drawn from the city to
a distant battlefield to engage with Maurya's forces. Maurya's general
and spies meanwhile bribed the corrupt general of Nanda. He also
managed to create an atmosphere of civil war in the kingdom, which
culminated in the death of the heir to the throne.
ChanakyaChanakya managed to
win over popular sentiment. Ultimately Nanda resigned, handing power
to Chandragupta, and went into exile and was never heard of again.
ChanakyaChanakya contacted the prime minister, Rakshasas, and made him
understand that his loyalty was to Magadha, not to the Nanda dynasty,
insisting that he continue in office.
ChanakyaChanakya also reiterated that
choosing to resist would start a war that would severely affect
MagadhaMagadha and destroy the city. Rakshasa accepted Chanakya's reasoning,
and
Chandragupta MauryaChandragupta Maurya was legitimately installed as the new King of
Magadha. Rakshasa became Chandragupta's chief advisor, and Chanakya
assumed the position of an elder statesman.

TERRITORIAL EVOLUTION OF THE MAURYAN EMPIRE

*

The approximate extent of the
MagadhaMagadha state in the 5th century BCE.
*

Chandragupta established a strong centralized state with an
administration at Pataliputra, which, according to Megasthenes, was
"surrounded by a wooden wall pierced by 64 gates and 570 towers".
Aelian , although not expressly quoting
MegasthenesMegasthenes nor mentionning
Pataliputra, described Indian palaces as superior in splendor to
PersiaPersia 's
SusaSusa or
Ectabana . The architecture of the city seems to
have had many similarities with Persian cities of the period.

Chandragupta's son
BindusaraBindusara extended the rule of the
MauryanMauryan empire
towards southern India. The famous Tamil poet Mamulanar of the Sangam
literature described how the
Deccan PlateauDeccan Plateau was invaded by the Maurya
army. He also had a Greek ambassador at his court, named Megasthenes
.

MegasthenesMegasthenes describes a disciplined multitude under Chandragupta, who
live simply, honestly, and do not know writing: "The Indians all live
frugally, especially when in camp. They dislike a great undisciplined
multitude, and consequently they observe good order. Theft is of very
rare occurrence.
MegasthenesMegasthenes says that those who were in the camp of
Sandrakottos, wherein lay 400,000 men, found that the thefts reported
on any one day did not exceed the value of two hundred drachmae, and
this among a people who have no written laws, but are ignorant of
writing, and must therefore in all the business of life trust to
memory. They live, nevertheless, happily enough, being simple in their
manners and frugal. They never drink wine except at sacrifices. Their
beverage is a liquor composed from rice instead of barley, and their
food is principally a rice-pottage."
StraboStrabo XV. i. 53–56, quoting
Megasthenes.

BindusaraBindusara was the son of the first
MauryanMauryan emperor Chandragupta
MauryaMaurya and his queen
Durdhara . During his reign, the empire expanded
southwards. According to the Rajavalikatha , a
JainJain work, the original
name of this emperor was Simhasena. According to a legend mentioned in
the
JainJain texts, Chandragupta's
GuruGuru and advisor
ChanakyaChanakya used to feed
the emperor small doses of poison with his food to build his immunity
against possible assassination attempts by his enemies. One day,
Chandragupta, not knowing about the poison, shared his food with his
pregnant wife, who was 7 days away from delivery. The queen collapsed
and died within few minutes.
ChanakyaChanakya entered the room at the very
moment she collapsed, and, in order to save the child in the womb, he
immediately cut open the dead queen's belly and took the baby out. By
that time a drop of poison had already reached the baby and touched
its head, due to which the child got a permanent blueish spot (a
"bindu") on his forehead. Thus, the newborn was named "Bindusara".

Bindusara's life has not been documented as well as that of his
father Chandragupta or of his son Ashoka.
ChanakyaChanakya continued to serve
as prime minister during his reign. According to the medieval Tibetan
scholar Taranatha who visited India,
ChanakyaChanakya helped
BindusaraBindusara "to
destroy the nobles and kings of the sixteen kingdoms and thus to
become absolute master of the territory between the eastern and
western oceans." During his rule, the citizens of
TaxilaTaxila revolted
twice. The reason for the first revolt was the maladministration of
Susima , his eldest son. The reason for the second revolt is unknown,
but
BindusaraBindusara could not suppress it in his lifetime. It was crushed by
AshokaAshoka after Bindusara's death.

As a young prince,
AshokaAshoka (r. 272–232 BCE) was a brilliant
commander who crushed revolts in
Ujjain and Takshashila. As monarch he
was ambitious and aggressive, re-asserting the Empire's superiority in
southern and western India. But it was his conquest of Kalinga
(262–261 BCE) which proved to be the pivotal event of his life.
Although Ashoka's army succeeded in overwhelming Kalinga forces of
royal soldiers and civilian units, an estimated 100,000 soldiers and
civilians were killed in the furious warfare, including over 10,000 of
Ashoka's own men. Hundreds of thousands of people were adversely
affected by the destruction and fallout of war. When he personally
witnessed the devastation,
AshokaAshoka began feeling remorse. Although the
annexation of Kalinga was completed,
AshokaAshoka embraced the teachings of
BuddhismBuddhism , and renounced war and violence. He sent out missionaries to
travel around
AsiaAsia and spread
BuddhismBuddhism to other countries.

AshokaAshoka implemented principles of ahimsa by banning hunting and
violent sports activity and ending indentured and forced labor (many
thousands of people in war-ravaged Kalinga had been forced into hard
labour and servitude). While he maintained a large and powerful army,
to keep the peace and maintain authority,
AshokaAshoka expanded friendly
relations with states across
AsiaAsia and Europe, and he sponsored
Buddhist missions. He undertook a massive public works building
campaign across the country. Over 40 years of peace, harmony and
prosperity made
AshokaAshoka one of the most successful and famous monarchs
in Indian history. He remains an idealized figure of inspiration in
modern India.

The Edicts of
AshokaAshoka , set in stone, are found throughout the
Subcontinent. Ranging from as far west as
AfghanistanAfghanistan and as far south
as Andhra (
Nellore DistrictNellore District ), Ashoka's edicts state his policies and
accomplishments. Although predominantly written in Prakrit, two of
them were written in Greek , and one in both Greek and
AramaicAramaic .
Ashoka's edicts refer to the Greeks,
KambojasKambojas , and Gandharas as
peoples forming a frontier region of his empire. They also attest to
Ashoka's having sent envoys to the Greek rulers in the West as far as
the Mediterranean. The edicts precisely name each of the rulers of the
Hellenic world at the time such as Amtiyoko (Antiochus ), Tulamaya
(Ptolemy ), Amtikini (Antigonos ), Maka (Magas ) and Alikasudaro
(
AlexanderAlexander ) as recipients of Ashoka's proselytism. The Edicts also
accurately locate their territory "600 yojanas away" (a yojanas being
about 7 miles), corresponding to the distance between the center of
IndiaIndia and
GreeceGreece (roughly 4,000 miles).

Buddhist records such as the
Ashokavadana write that the
assassination of
Brihadratha and the rise of the Shunga empire led to
a wave of religious persecution for
BuddhistsBuddhists , and a resurgence of
HinduismHinduism . According to
Sir John Marshall , Pushyamitra may have been
the main author of the persecutions, although later Shunga kings seem
to have been more supportive of Buddhism. Other historians, such as
Etienne Lamotte and
Romila ThaparRomila Thapar , among others, have argued that
archaeological evidence in favour of the allegations of persecution of
BuddhistsBuddhists are lacking, and that the extent and magnitude of the
atrocities have been exaggerated.

The fall of the Mauryas left the
Khyber PassKhyber Pass unguarded, and a wave of
foreign invasion followed. The Greco-Bactrian king, Demetrius ,
capitalized on the break-up, and he conquered southern
AfghanistanAfghanistan and
parts of northwestern
IndiaIndia around 180 BCE, forming the Indo-Greek
Kingdom . The
Indo-Greeks would maintain holdings on the trans-Indus
region, and make forays into central India, for about a century. Under
them,
BuddhismBuddhism flourished, and one of their kings, Menander , became a
famous figure of Buddhism; he was to establish a new capital of
Sagala, the modern city of
SialkotSialkot . However, the extent of their
domains and the lengths of their rule are subject to much debate.
Numismatic evidence indicates that they retained holdings in the
subcontinent right up to the birth of Christ. Although the extent of
their successes against indigenous powers such as the Shungas ,
Satavahanas , and Kalingas are unclear, what is clear is that Scythian
tribes, renamed
Indo-ScythiansIndo-Scythians , brought about the demise of the
Indo-Greeks from around 70 BCE and retained lands in the trans-Indus,
the region of Mathura , and Gujarat.

The
EmpireEmpire was divided into four provinces, with the imperial capital
at
PataliputraPataliputra . From Ashokan edicts, the names of the four provincial
capitals are
Tosali (in the east),
Ujjain (in the west), Suvarnagiri
(in the south), and
TaxilaTaxila (in the north). The head of the provincial
administration was the Kumara (royal prince), who governed the
provinces as king's representative. The kumara was assisted by
Mahamatyas and council of ministers. This organizational structure was
reflected at the imperial level with the Emperor and his
Mantriparishad (Council of Ministers).

Historians theorise that the organisation of the
EmpireEmpire was in line
with the extensive bureaucracy described by
Kautilya in the
Arthashastra : a sophisticated civil service governed everything from
municipal hygiene to international trade. The expansion and defense of
the empire was made possible by what appears to have been one of the
largest armies in the world during the
Iron AgeIron Age . According to
Megasthenes, the empire wielded a military of 600,000 infantry, 30,000
cavalry, 8,000 chariots and 9,000 war elephants besides followers and
attendants. A vast espionage system collected intelligence for both
internal and external security purposes. Having renounced offensive
warfare and expansionism,
AshokaAshoka nevertheless continued to maintain
this large army, to protect the
EmpireEmpire and instil stability and peace
across West and South Asia.

ECONOMY

See also: Economic history of
IndiaIndia and Coinage of
IndiaIndia Maurya
statuette, 2nd century BCE.

For the first time in
South AsiaSouth Asia , political unity and military
security allowed for a common economic system and enhanced trade and
commerce, with increased agricultural productivity. The previous
situation involving hundreds of kingdoms, many small armies, powerful
regional chieftains, and internecine warfare, gave way to a
disciplined central authority. Farmers were freed of tax and crop
collection burdens from regional kings, paying instead to a nationally
administered and strict-but-fair system of taxation as advised by the
principles in the Arthashastra.
Chandragupta MauryaChandragupta Maurya established a
single currency across India, and a network of regional governors and
administrators and a civil service provided justice and security for
merchants, farmers and traders. The
MauryanMauryan army wiped out many gangs
of bandits, regional private armies, and powerful chieftains who
sought to impose their own supremacy in small areas. Although
regimental in revenue collection,
MauryaMaurya also sponsored many public
works and waterways to enhance productivity, while internal trade in
IndiaIndia expanded greatly due to new-found political unity and internal
peace.

Under the Indo-Greek friendship treaty, and during Ashoka's reign, an
international network of trade expanded. The
Khyber PassKhyber Pass , on the
modern boundary of
PakistanPakistan and
AfghanistanAfghanistan , became a strategically
important port of trade and intercourse with the outside world. Greek
states and Hellenic kingdoms in
West AsiaWest Asia became important trade
partners of India. Trade also extended through the Malay peninsula
into Southeast Asia. India's exports included silk goods and textiles,
spices and exotic foods. The external world came across new scientific
knowledge and technology with expanding trade with the
MauryanMauryan Empire.
AshokaAshoka also sponsored the construction of thousands of roads,
waterways, canals, hospitals, rest-houses and other public works. The
easing of many over-rigorous administrative practices, including those
regarding taxation and crop collection, helped increase productivity
and economic activity across the Empire.

In many ways, the economic situation in the
Mauryan EmpireMauryan Empire is
analogous to the Roman
EmpireEmpire of several centuries later. Both had
extensive trade connections and both had organizations similar to
corporations . While Rome had organizational entities which were
largely used for public state-driven projects,
MauryanMauryanIndiaIndia had
numerous private commercial entities. These existed purely for private
commerce and developed before the
Mauryan EmpireMauryan Empire itself.

Thus,
JainismJainism became a vital force under the
MauryanMauryan Rule.
Chandragupta and
SampratiSamprati are credited for the spread of
JainismJainism in
South
IndiaIndia . Hundreds of thousands of temples and stupas are said to
have been erected during their reigns. However, due to lack of royal
patronage, its own strict principles, and the rise of Shankaracharya
and
RamanujaRamanuja , Jainism, once a major religion of southern India, began
to decline.

The greatest monument of this period, executed in the reign of
Chandragupta MauryaChandragupta Maurya , was the old palace at the site of
Kumhrar .
Excavations at the site of
Kumhrar nearby have unearthed the remains
of the palace. The palace is thought to have been an aggregate of
buildings, the most important of which was an immense pillared hall
supported on a high substratum of timbers. The pillars were set in
regular rows, thus dividing the hall into a number of smaller square
bays. The number of columns is 80, each about 7 meters high. According
to the eyewitness account of
MegasthenesMegasthenes , the palace was chiefly
constructed of timber, and was considered to exceed in splendour and
magnificence the palaces of
SusaSusa and Ecbatana, its gilded pillars
being adorned with golden vines and silver birds. The buildings stood
in an extensive park studded with fish ponds and furnished with a
great variety of ornamental trees and shrubs. Kauṭilya's
Arthashastra also gives the method of palace construction from this
period. Later fragments of stone pillars, including one nearly
complete, with their round tapering shafts and smooth polish, indicate
that
AshokaAshoka was responsible for the construction of the stone columns
which replaced the earlier wooden ones. An early stupa , 6 meters
in diameter, with fallen umbrella on side. Chakpat, near
Chakdara .
Probably Maurya, 3rd century BCE.

During the Ashokan period, stonework was of a highly diversified
order and comprised lofty free-standing pillars, railings of stupas ,
lion thrones and other colossal figures. The use of stone had reached
such great perfection during this time that even small fragments of
stone art were given a high lustrous polish resembling fine enamel.
This period marked the beginning of the Buddhist school of
architecture.
AshokaAshoka was responsible for the construction of several
stupas , which were large domes and bearing symbols of Buddha. The
most important ones are located at
SanchiSanchi ,
Bharhut , Amaravati ,
BodhgayaBodhgaya and
Nagarjunakonda . The most widespread examples of Mauryan
architecture are the
AshokaAshoka pillars and carved edicts of Ashoka, often
exquisitely decorated, with more than 40 spread throughout the Indian
subcontinent .

The peacock was a dynastic symbol of Mauryans, as depicted by
Ashoka's pillars at Nandangarh and
SanchiSanchi Stupa.

Approximate reconstitution of the Great
StupaStupa under the Mauryas .

*

Remains of the Ashokan Pillar in polished stone, to the right of the
Southern Gateway.
*

Remains of the shaft of the pillar of Ashoka, under a shed near the
Southern Gateway.
*

The
SanchiSanchi pillar capital of
AshokaAshoka as discovered (left), and
simulation of original appearance (right). Flame palmettes and geese
adorn the abacus .

NATURAL HISTORY

The two Yakshas , possibly 3rd century BCE, found in Pataliputra
.

The protection of animals in
IndiaIndia became serious business by the
time of the
MauryaMaurya dynasty; being the first empire to provide a
unified political entity in India, the attitude of the Mauryas towards
forests, their denizens, and fauna in general is of interest.

The Mauryas firstly looked at forests as resources. For them, the
most important forest product was the elephant. Military might in
those times depended not only upon horses and men but also
battle-elephants; these played a role in the defeat of Seleucus , one
of
AlexanderAlexander 's former generals. The Mauryas sought to preserve
supplies of elephants since it was cheaper and took less time to
catch, tame and train wild elephants than to raise them.
Kautilya 's
Arthashastra contains not only maxims on ancient statecraft, but also
unambiguously specifies the responsibilities of officials such as the
Protector of the Elephant Forests.

On the border of the forest, he should establish a forest for
elephants guarded by foresters. The Office of the Chief Elephant
Forester should with the help of guards protect the elephants in any
terrain. The slaying of an elephant is punishable by death.
—
Arthashastra

The Mauryas also designated separate forests to protect supplies of
timber, as well as lions and tigers for skins. Elsewhere the Protector
of Animals also worked to eliminate thieves, tigers and other
predators to render the woods safe for grazing cattle.

The Mauryas valued certain forest tracts in strategic or economic
terms and instituted curbs and control measures over them. They
regarded all forest tribes with distrust and controlled them with
bribery and political subjugation. They employed some of them, the
food-gatherers or aranyaca to guard borders and trap animals. The
sometimes tense and conflict-ridden relationship nevertheless enabled
the Mauryas to guard their vast empire.

When
AshokaAshoka embraced
BuddhismBuddhism in the latter part of his reign, he
brought about significant changes in his style of governance, which
included providing protection to fauna, and even relinquished the
royal hunt. He was the first ruler in history to advocate conservation
measures for wildlife and even had rules inscribed in stone edicts.
The edicts proclaim that many followed the king's example in giving up
the slaughter of animals; one of them proudly states:

Our king killed very few animals. — Edict on Fifth Pillar

However, the edicts of
AshokaAshoka reflect more the desire of rulers than
actual events; the mention of a 100 'panas' (coins) fine for poaching
deer in royal hunting preserves shows that rule-breakers did exist.
The legal restrictions conflicted with the practices freely exercised
by the common people in hunting, felling, fishing and setting fires in
forests.

Chandragupta ultimately occupied Northwestern India, in the
territories formerly ruled by the Greeks, where he fought the satraps
(described as "Prefects" in Western sources) left in place after
AlexanderAlexander (Justin), among whom may have been Eudemus , ruler in the
western
PunjabPunjab until his departure in 317 BCE or Peithon, son of
Agenor , ruler of the Greek colonies along the Indus until his
departure for
BabylonBabylon in 316 BCE. "India, after the death of
Alexander, had assassinated his prefects, as if shaking the burden of
servitude. The author of this liberation was Sandracottos, but he had
transformed liberation in servitude after victory, since, after taking
the throne, he himself oppressed the very people he has liberated from
foreign domination" Justin XV.4.12–13 "Later, as he was preparing
war against the prefects of Alexander, a huge wild elephant went to
him and took him on his back as if tame, and he became a remarkable
fighter and war leader. Having thus acquired royal power, Sandracottos
possessed
IndiaIndia at the time Seleucos was preparing future glory."
Justin XV.4.19

Seleucus I NicatorSeleucus I Nicator , the Macedonian satrap of the Asian portion of
Alexander's former empire, conquered and put under his own authority
eastern territories as far as
BactriaBactria and the Indus (
AppianAppian , History
of Rome, The Syrian Wars 55), until in 305 BCE he entered into a
confrontation with Emperor Chandragupta: "Always lying in wait for
the neighbouring nations, strong in arms and persuasive in council, he
acquired Mesopotamia, Armenia, 'Seleucid' Cappadocia, Persis,
Parthia, Bactria, Arabia, Tapouria, Sogdia, Arachosia, Hyrcania, and
other adjacent peoples that had been subdued by Alexander, as far as
the river Indus, so that the boundaries of his empire were the most
extensive in
AsiaAsia after that of Alexander. The whole region from
Phrygia to the Indus was subject to Seleucus".
AppianAppian , History of
Rome, The Syrian Wars 55

Though no accounts of the conflict remain, it is clear that Seleucus
fared poorly against the Indian Emperor as he failed to conquer any
territory, and in fact was forced to surrender much that was already
his. Regardless, Seleucus and Chandragupta ultimately reached a
settlement and through a treaty sealed in 305 BCE, Seleucus, according
to Strabo, ceded a number of territories to Chandragupta, including
large parts of what is now
AfghanistanAfghanistan and parts of
BalochistanBalochistan .

“
"He (Seleucus) crossed the Indus and waged war with Sandrocottus ,
king of the Indians, who dwelt on the banks of that stream, until they
came to an understanding with each other and contracted a marriage
relationship."
”

“
"After having made a treaty with him (Sandrakotos) and put in order
the Orient situation, Seleucos went to war against Antigonus ."
”

The treaty on "
Epigamia " implies lawful marriage between Greeks and
Indians was recognized at the State level, although it is unclear
whether it occurred among dynastic rulers or common people, or both..

Exchange Of Presents

Classical sources have also recorded that following their treaty,
Chandragupta and Seleucus exchanged presents, such as when
Chandragupta sent various aphrodisiacs to Seleucus: "And
Theophrastus says that some contrivances are of wondrous efficacy in
such matters . And Phylarchus confirms him, by reference to some of
the presents which Sandrakottus, the king of the Indians, sent to
Seleucus; which were to act like charms in producing a wonderful
degree of affection, while some, on the contrary, were to banish
love."
Athenaeus of Naucratis , "
The deipnosophists " Book I, chapter
32

His son
BindusaraBindusara 'Amitraghata' (Slayer of Enemies) also is recorded
in Classical sources as having exchanged presents with
Antiochus IAntiochus I :
"But dried figs were so very much sought after by all men (for really,
as
AristophanesAristophanes says, "There's really nothing nicer than dried figs"),
that even Amitrochates, the king of the Indians, wrote to Antiochus ,
entreating him (it is Hegesander who tells this story) to buy and send
him some sweet wine, and some dried figs, and a sophist ; and that
Antiochus wrote to him in answer, "The dry figs and the sweet wine we
will send you; but it is not lawful for a sophist to be sold in
Greece."
AthenaeusAthenaeus , "
DeipnosophistaeDeipnosophistae " XIV.67

Fragments of Edict 13 have been found in Greek, and a full Edict,
written in both Greek and Aramaic, has been discovered in
KandaharKandahar .
It is said to be written in excellent Classical Greek, using
sophisticated philosophical terms. In this Edict,
AshokaAshoka uses the word
Eusebeia ("
Piety ") as the Greek translation for the ubiquitous
"
DharmaDharma " of his other Edicts written in
PrakritPrakrit : "Ten years (of
reign) having been completed, King Piodasses (Ashoka) made known (the
doctrine of)
Piety (εὐσέβεια,
Eusebeia ) to men; and from
this moment he has made men more pious, and everything thrives
throughout the whole world. And the king abstains from (killing)
living beings, and other men and those who (are) huntsmen and
fishermen of the king have desisted from hunting. And if some (were)
intemperate, they have ceased from their intemperance as was in their
power; and obedient to their father and mother and to the elders, in
opposition to the past also in the future, by so acting on every
occasion, they will live better and more happily". (Trans. by G.P.
Carratelli )

Also, in the Edicts of
AshokaAshoka ,
AshokaAshoka mentions the
HellenisticHellenistic kings
of the period as recipients of his Buddhist proselytism, although no
Western historical record of this event remains: "The conquest by
DharmaDharma has been won here, on the borders, and even six hundred yojanas
(5,400–9,600 km) away, where the Greek king Antiochos rules, beyond
there where the four kings named Ptolemy , Antigonos , Magas and
AlexanderAlexander rule, likewise in the south among the Cholas , the
Pandyas ,
and as far as
Tamraparni (
Sri LankaSri Lanka )." (Edicts of
AshokaAshoka , 13th Rock
Edict, S. Dhammika).

AshokaAshoka also encouraged the development of herbal medicine , for men
and animals, in their territories: "Everywhere within
Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi's domain, and among the people
beyond the borders, the Cholas , the
Pandyas , the Satiyaputras, the
Keralaputras, as far as
Tamraparni and where the Greek king Antiochos
rules, and among the kings who are neighbors of Antiochos, everywhere
has Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi, made provision for two types
of medical treatment: medical treatment for humans and medical
treatment for animals. Wherever medical herbs suitable for humans or
animals are not available, I have had them imported and grown.
Wherever medical roots or fruits are not available I have had them
imported and grown. Along roads I have had wells dug and trees planted
for the benefit of humans and animals". 2nd Rock Edict

The Greeks in
IndiaIndia even seem to have played an active role in the
propagation of Buddhism, as some of the emissaries of Ashoka, such as
Dharmaraksita , are described in Pali sources as leading Greek ("Yona
") Buddhist monks, active in Buddhist proselytism (the
Mahavamsa , XII
).

"He (Antiochus) crossed the Caucasus and descended into India;
renewed his friendship with
Sophagasenus the king of the Indians;
received more elephants, until he had a hundred and fifty altogether;
and having once more provisioned his troops, set out again personally
with his army: leaving Androsthenes of Cyzicus the duty of taking home
the treasure which this king had agreed to hand over to him". Polybius
11.39